Vegan chef cooks up creative ways to use pumpkin in everyday foods

VENICE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- This time of year we love to carve pumpkins, but they're also pretty good eating too.

Vegan chef and cookbook author Attila Hildmann loves the red curry pumpkin because it's relatively easy to use -- you don't have to peel it. Although he says, you will need a really sharp knife no matter what your plan of attack is.

"You can just slice it up, remove the seeds, bake it, boil it or just use it raw," said Hildmann.

While many make pies from canned pumpkin, Hildemann says try fresh or raw. The taste is quite different and it's not that hard to start from scratch.

His refrigerator pie is made from raw pumpkin, coconut oil, cashew butter, agave and pumpkin spices. Along with that sharp knife, you'll want a powerful blender to make a smooth filling.

There are other things to try besides pie. Roasted eggplant lasagne with quinoa filling and pumpkin cream sauce is gluten free but packed with flavor.

"If you know how to prepare vegetables, they can actually be pretty tasty. I know a thing about it because I didn't like vegetables," said Hildmann.

But a health scare got him to experiment with produce and the results were a huge success. His plant-based cookbooks are best-sellers and he lost 77 pounds in the process.

A few key points, make sure there is enough protein and fat. Yes fat, for the right texture and to help absorb the veggies nutrients.

An example is a salad of roasted pumpkin, garbanzo beans, broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes and toasted pine nuts.

"Looks so beautiful, colorful, lots of veggies, low in calories," said Hildmann.

Pumpkin is actually a fruit not a veggie and it's a nutritional powerhouse. One cup of pumpkin has almost three gram of fiber and nearly 300 percent of your RDA for vitamin A. Plus it's a nice dose of potassium in case you want to substitute for a banana.

If these ideas seem a daunting, take a trip to the market. Trader Joe's, for example, offers plenty of pumpkin products to get you into fall spirit.

RECIPES FROM ATTILA HILDMANN:

Raw Pumpkin Pie

Dough:

3 cups cashews

14 pitted dates

1 level teaspoon ground vanilla

1 pinch sea salt

Filling:

1 1/2 Hokkaido pumpkin

3/4 of a one-inch cube of ginger

1 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut oil (250 g)

1 1/2 rounded teaspoons cinnamon (6 g)

2 pinches freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup agave syrup (130 g)

7 tablespoons cashew butter (110 g)

1 pinch sea salt

Topping:

1 1/4 cups whippable vegan cream (300 mL)

Maple syrup

Some cinnamon to sprinkle on top

Pecans

Preparation: Approx. 40 minutes plus

For the dough, grind the cashews in a blender. Then grind the dates to a paste. In a bowl, knead both together with the vanilla and salt into a firm dough. Spread the dough mixture out evenly in the pie or springform pan and press out with the palms of your hands. For the filling, wash the pumpkins, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Then cut into small pieces. Peel the ginger. Heat the coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat until melted. Put the pumpkin together with the coconut oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, agave syrup, ginger, cashew butter, and sea salt in a very powerful blender and puree to a creamy paste. Pour the paste into the pie pan, cover with parchment paper, and let cool in the freezer for about 40 minutes. Then let cool in the refrigerator until the pumpkin mixture is firm, preferably overnight. Serve with whipped soy cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, and pecans on top.

Eggplant Quinoa Lasagna with Pumpkin Cashew Cream

Lasagna:

1 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups non-carbonated mineral water

1 garlic clove

2 eggplants

4 tablespoons olive oil

Iodized sea salt

1 teaspoon rice syrup

1 red onion

1 small wedge of red cabbage

Cream:

1/3 Hokkaido pumpkin

3/4 cup non-carbonated mineral water

1 tablespoon cashew butter

Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation: Approx. 35 minutes

Wash the quinoa with cold water in a fine sieve. In a sauce pan, bring the quinoa and mineral water just to a boil and let cook over medium heat for about 12 minutes. Then let drain if water is still present. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the grill function on. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Wash the eggplants and cut lengthwise into slices that are just under 1/4-inch. Coat the slices with a mixture of 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, the garlic and rice syrup, and then bake on the middle rack of the oven on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper approx. 14 minutes. Peel and dice the onion. Heat the rest of the olive oil in a skillet and saute the diced onions over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Then fold in the quinoa. Wash the pumpkin, remove the seeds, cut into small cubes, and cook in boiling mineral water approx. 5-7 minutes, until soft. Then puree with cashew butter and 3/4 cups of the water used to cook the pumpkin. Salt and pepper to taste. Alternately later the eggplant strips and the quinoa vegetable mixture and top with the Hokkaido Pumpkin Cashew Cream.

Pumpkin Salad To Go

Salad:

1 large pumpkin

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes

2 cups broccoli florets

Iodized sea salt

1 cup canned chickpeas

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil (drained)

3 1/2 tablespoons pine nuts

Dressing:

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon flaxseed oil

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped basil

Iodized sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation: Approx. 35 minutes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash the pumpkin, cut in half, and remove the seeds with a spoon. Then cut into medium-sized cubes that are about 1/3 inch. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spread the pumpkin cubes out on the sheet without adding oil, and bake approximately 17 minutes. In the meantime, wash the cherry tomatoes, pat dry, and cut in half. Cook the broccoli florets in lightly salted boiling water for about 3 minutes, until al dente. Wash the chickpeas in a sieve and let drain. Finely chop the sun-dried tomatoes. Toast the pine nuts in a preheated dry skillet for approx. 2 minutes. For the dressing, combine all of the ingredients and season liberally with salt and pepper. Put the baked pumpkin, fresh cherry and sun-dried tomatoes, chickpeas and broccoli in a bowl, then pour the dressing over the top and mix everything together. Sprinkle the toasted pine nuts over the top before serving.